A New Year, A New System

As the year draws to a close, the desire to wrap things up grows stronger. Projects that were started, but not yet completed take on a greater sense of urgency as December 31st approaches. In the General Office it is no different.

One of the major projects that has been ongoing during this past year is working with programmers to develop a completely new computer system that will help us track the information we need in a more accurate and productive manner. In our effort to continually improve the level of service we give to our local unions, this is the next logical step.

By combining our old Member and Roadman applications into one consolidated system, all critical information about members and their local unions will be stored in one single repository. There will be no more duplicate data entry, which will facilitate the accuracy of our data and increase the level of our efficiency.

By early next year, we expect to launch this new system in the General Office. Our staff will have the benefit of working with a robust system with increased reporting and tracking capabilities that will use far less paper. Many entries in files and on the Web site that now need to be handled manually will be performed automatically, freeing up more time for our staff to handle the needs of our members and their local unions.

From a local union point of view, the benefits and efficiencies of the new system will also be dramatic. By Web-enabling the system, we will be making it possible for local union Secretaries and Treasurers to change much of their communication with the International from a paper environment to that of an online environment. Locals will be able to file Quarterly Reports, update member information and place orders for stamps and supplies, all online over a secure network connection.

Once the system is fully operational we will be making it available to our local unions. It is expected that by the end of the First Quarter of 2008 we will begin granting access to local unions that have indicated an interest in using the new system. This will be done on a first come, first serve basis.

If you are a local union Officer that wants to get your local on the new system you should send an email to helpdesk@iatse-intl.org and reserve your place in line. It will take a number of months before we are able to grant access to all interested locals because we will need to work with each one to ensure their familiarity with the system and the accuracy of their data. However, by the latter part of 2008 we expect that we will have worked our way through what is expected to be a fairly lengthy list.